Quests and Drunks
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Lisanna and Bickslow spend a rather eventful night trying to win their babies back after he makes a (regrettable) bet with the Thunder God and loses them. And nobody takes their babies, fair and square or not. Not even Laxus... At least they hope!
1. Chapter 1

Quests and Drunks

Chapter 1

"I made a bad decision."

Lisanna blinked. Then she gave Bickslow a slight smile. "You finally regretting that face tattoo?"

"Lissy-"

"What?" she moaned as he slowly crawled into bed with her. His babies weren't around though, which immediately made her suspicious. "What did you do?"

"Now don't panic, because that's what I did at first and it only got me this black eye, here-"

"Bickslow!" She sat up, moving to shove his helmet off his head. "What happened? Who-"

"Laxus."

'Laxus? _Laxus_? What did he do to the-"

"I made a bet. I was drunk. I lost. The babies. And when I tried to argue, he punched me. So now that you're all caught up, can you go get your sister and make her force him to give them back or-"

"No," she said without thinking. A lot of things were occurring to her at once. Like how angry she was at Laxus. How scared she was for the babies. And, honestly, how sexy Bickslow looked when he was close to tears.

"No?"

"No."

"But Mirajane is the only one that can make him do things," Bickslow complained. "Especially when he's drunk. So-"

"We're getting our babies back." She reached out to pat him on the cheek before shoving his helmet back onto his head. Then, looking around their room, she quickly found some clothes to pull on. "And he's going to regret ever taking them."

On the way there, Bickslow caught her up on a few things. Like how he had blatantly lied to her about having to train and was instead just getting drunk with Laxus. Oh and there was the fact that he'd waged he'd be able to play the best game of darts (she didn't even know Laxus had a dart board in the apartment). And Laxus let him with the first few games…then the wagers turned into a lot more. And he started losing. And his babies were really happy about being used in a bet, he explained.

"They're just babies, Bickslow," she complained. "You shouldn't-"

"I made a horrible mistake! And now Laxus is holding them for ransom! He says that if I don't bring him something better than my dolls, he'll never give 'em back."

Lisanna frowned. Then she stopped, right there on the sidewalk, and glanced at him. "Hey, Bickslow?"

"Lissy, we gotta hurry. We-"

"Why didn't you just take their souls out of the bodies and change them to something else?" she asked. "Or-"

"I guess I didn't think of it."

"Really? You didn't think of the easiest thing-"

"I'm drunk!"

"That's what your magic is all about!"

"Do you want to get them back or not?"

She groaned before heading right along, towards her sister's boyfriend's apartment. Papa might have failed, but she sure wasn't going to!

When they arrived at his place, Lisanna banged on the door as Bickslow stood behind her, like a scared child or something. He really, really didn't want to go against Laxus alone. Honestly, if he didn't think Lisanna would have been able to explain it better to Mirajane, he'd have gone to her first. But sometimes, she had a hard time understanding to him when he was excited because his tongue would fall out and…and…well…Lisanna just got him best, he figured.

"Huh," Laxus grunted when he answered the door. "I was expecting something else, Bickslow, in exchange. This won't do. For some reason, fucking Mira's sister just doesn't sound like a good game plan. Even if it is a trade, fair and square."

"Shut up, idiot." Lisanna wasn't playing around. She only shoved him back slightly, which wasn't hard considering he was drunk, before stomping into the apartment. Bickslow only bowed his head and followed. He was usually the bravest most brass person Lisanna knew. She didn't hold anything against him though at the moment. Laxus was his idol.

She did blame him a little for losing their babies though. What was he thinking?

"The hell you think you are, Lisanna?" Laxus grumbled immediately. "You-"

"Where are our babies?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Give them to us. Now."

"No way. I won. I-"

"You can't trade lives, Laxus. I'm sorry, are you Satan?"

Snort. "No, but I fuck her, thank you very much, which means I can do whatever the fuck I want."

She only narrowed her eyes at him, the same ones she shared with her siblings. "Give me my babies back, Laxus Dreyar."

"No."

"When I find them, he's only going to take their souls and then you can't-"

"You ain't going to find them."

"Pappa!" She yelled then. "Poppo! Puppu! Where are you? Pippi? Peppe? Where-"

"They ain't here, zombie," he told her with a snort. She frowned, about to yell to him that she'd never died so she totally wasn't a zombie, but found better of it in that moment.

"What do you mean?"

"I hid them away, because I knew you idiots would be back. So search away!" Laxus tossed is head back and laughed then. "You- Hey!"

Lisanna transformed almost without a second thought, into her cat form, clawing him just as quickly. Laxus only growled at this, before shoving her to the ground.

"Mira bought me this shirt, you idiot!" he yelled as Bickslow frowned, helping her up.

"Hey! Don't touch my woman, m-" Bickslow faltered. "I mean, uh, boss, maybe you can be a little nicer with-"

"Shut up, Bickslow." She shoved him away. "Where'd you hide them, Laxus?"

He was still staring down at his ripped shirt. Then he shrugged before just taking it off.

"You wanna fight for them? Huh? Huh? Either of you? Come in here, make bets and then threaten me? Like what the hell? If he didn't want to pay up, fine, but don't-"

"I'm going to tell Mirajane," Lisanna said then as she changed back into her own self. "And she's going to be real mad at you."

Snort. Drunken Laxus was a lot less afraid of his little demon than sober Laxus.

"You do whatever the hell you want, but if you ever want your little dolls back, Bickslow, you better bring me something else. And I don't want a woman! I already got one those. And she ain't that great."

With that, they were shoved out of the apartment. Bickslow only looked down at his girlfriend who was red in the face and still ready for a fight.

"Now do we get Mirajane? Or-"

"No," Lisanna insisted. She was so tired of everyone constantly thinking that she needed her sister to do her bidding. She didn't. She was grown. She had a boyfriend. And babies! Well…sort of. But still. She could get her own (kind of) children back all on her own. She didn't need Mirajane for anything. "We're going to get them ourselves."

"But Lisanna-"

"It only took you a short time to get back to our apartment, Bickslow, and then for us to get back here," she reasoned as they stood in the hall of that apartment building. "So that means that he couldn't have hidden them very far. Right?"

"W-Well-"

"They weren't in the apartment or else they would have called out for us," she told him. "So-"

"But…there were kinda other people here."

"What? When?"

He looked off. "For the party."

"Party?"

He let out a long sigh. "So maybe it just wasn't me and Laxus drinking."

"Well, who else-"

"There was Freed and Ever and even Gajeel was here."

"Gajeel?"

"And some other people."

She blinked. Then she glared. "You went to a party without me?"

"You couldn't come. Because Mirajane wasn't supposed to know about it. She's put a strict rule on Laxus about how much he drinks. So after he drank all he was allotted at the bar tonight, he came home and invited some of us over." Bickslow's tongue was back in his mouth then. "And we started drinking and…and… I'm real sorry, Lissy. Now-"

"Wait until Mirajane finds out about-" Then she stopped herself.

No. She couldn't tell Mira. Because then she'd just be a big tattletale and everyone would continue to tell her nothing ever. Shaking her head, she moved to grab Bickslow hand.

"Come on," she said, tugging him along.

"Where are we going?"

"To get the babies back," she said. "We're going to hunt them down."

"But-"

"And we're starting with Freed."

"Lisanna-"

She threw his hand from hers then, turning to glare at him. "Do you want to do this or not, Bickslow? Because right now, you're not only one of the problems, you're the source of all of them! So either we got and get our babies back together and you become a solution, or you go home and wait for me to get back with them so I can yell at you some more. Which is it? Huh? Huh?"

"I…I…" He glanced up then, at her, his tongue tumbling from his mouth. That yelling, that tone… Why, she was almost like Laxus! And way more attractive at that. "I'll go with you! To get our babies. Together."

Lisanna grinned at him. "Togeth-"

"I don't get a shit what you two idiots do," they heard then as one of the apartment doors opened and an angry looking man stuck his head out. "But do it quietly!"

They both took off then, her giggling and him grinning. They were going to get his bab-

No. They were going to get _their_ babies back.

Together.

* * *

><p><strong>I needed something to replace Hospitality, which should be finished by tomorrow or the next day for anyone wondering, and this was it. I can definitely say too that this will only be five chapters. And short ones at that. <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Quests and Drunks

Chapter 2

They tried Freed's apartment first, but he didn't answer the door.

"Maybe he's hidin' in there from us," Bickslow reasoned as they left the apartment building.

"No, that would be too simple," she sighed, thinking hard. "Maybe we should start with someone else. You said that Gajeel was there? Then let's go to his and Lily's place. Maybe they took one of the babies."

"Sounds like his kinda thing," Bickslow agreed.

They were out in the street when it happened, rushing down the road then towards where they thought Gajeel lived. Lisanna wasn't sure, but she thought she'd been there once, with Happy, when they went to get Lily for something. Her adrenaline was pumping so much then that her head was swimming…until she ran into a brick wall!

"Lissy!" Bickslow hit it too. Blinking, she realized it wasn't a brick wall, but rather scripture.

"I'm sorry," they heard then from behind them. Standing there then was Freed, looking rather disapproving. "But I have been given orders to-"

"You thief!" Bickslow jumped to his feet before trying to run at him. And even though they had already been that way, suddenly, there was a wall stopping him too, right there on the sidewalk.

"We're trapped," Lisanna whispered as she still just as there, rubbing at her head. It was rather late and there weren't any people milling around. Other than a street lamp further down the road, they were in practical darkness as the moon was hidden behind some clouds.

Freed sighed, standing before them. "I didn't want to do this. But you know, Bickslow, that you'd betray me for Laxus as well. It is only-"

"Give me my babies back."

"I do not have them," Freed said simply. "Any of them. I-"

"Freed," Lisanna said slowly as she got to her feet. "If you don't have them-"

"I did not feel too good about this whole deal," he said simply. "Laxus passed out the poor dolls like party favors or something and instructed us all to hide them from you. Me, however, he only gave one direction."

"Which was?"

"I wrote on all of them, with my magic," he told her then as he slowly began to walk away, sword still clasped in his hand. "You cannot release their souls from their bodies."

"You what?" Bickslow rammed at the wall as Lisanna slowly got to her feet. "You-"

"When you present Laxus with something to his liking, Bickslow, we can all go back to normal."

"You-"

"Wait," Lisanna said, coming closer. She pressed her hands against the purple writing in front of them as her boyfriend shoved his helmet off and tried to stare Freed in the eyes. He wouldn't look at him though. "You said that you felt bad about this."

"I did."

"Then-"

"But Laxus has instructed-"

"Freed." She gave him a sad look. "They're our babies. Would you steal an actual child from someone for Laxus?"

"He would never ask-"

"Would you?"

"Well, no, but-"

"They're my babies, man," Bickslow was so upset then, balling his fists up and slamming them against the wall in front of him. "It's not a game! Laxus is… How could he take my babies? I devote my life to him and he-"

"You made a bet."

"I was supposed to win," he argued.

Freed only shook his head. "I'm sorry, but-"

"How is he supposed to bring Laxus something if we're trapped in here?" Lisanna asked. "Freed? That makes no-"

"In five minutes time, the scripture will dissipate and you can go on with your quest." Freed was taking even more steps backwards. "And as a token of goodwill, Bickslow, as we are such friends, I'll give you a freebee."

"We ain't friends now. You're a-"

"Be quiet," Lisanna said, making face at her Mohawk sporting boyfriend. "What, Freed? What are you going to tell us?"

"Ever has taken two of them with her back to her home and Gajeel was given one as well. That is all I know. I-"

"Which ones?"

"I don't-"

"How could you not even know their names?" Bickslow was really working himself up then. His eyes were changing, green light illuminating from them. "When I get my babies back, you're all gonna pay. You-"

"Calm down," Lisanna said as Freed left them, running off. "Look at me. You- Not with your eyes like that!"

She reached out to take his helmet from him before shoving it once more over his head.

"Now we know where to go," she told him. "We're going to get Ever first, okay? She owes me. She's sleeping with my brother. Then we'll get Gajeel. If Lily's around, then he'll force him to give us the baby back. Okay?"

Bickslow only shook his head. "I hate them. I-"

"You're the one that wagered them, Bickslow. So I'm just as pissed at you. You hear me?" She gently tapped her knuckles to his helmet. "But we'll get them back. So why worry?"

She kissed him then, quickly, just to calm him down some. It didn't help much, but his eyes did change back to red and he took to just leaning up against the wall.

"I'll never go somewhere without you again," he promised as she only rolled her eyes. "I promise."

"You know, Ever knows some of Freed's magic," she said then. "At least, she can undo some of his enchantments. Why haven't you-"

"Reading is hard enough. Writing? Enchantments?" Snort. "Those suck. It's cheaters magic anyways, Freed, wherever you are! And I hope you know that I'll be telling all of your secrets now!"

"He's gone, Bickslow."

Snort. "I don't care. I'mma tell everyone what he was really doing two months ago when even Ever didn't hear from him."

She blinked. "W-What was he doing?"

"More like who."

"Ew, shut up." Then she paused. "Who was she?"

"More like he."

"Really?"

He only stuck his tongue out. "And you know when Ever and Elfman broke up a few months ago? And he thought that she slept with someone else when they were, but she insisted that she didn't? She did."

"They tell you about that sort of-" Then she stopped, blushing. "What do you tell them about me?"

Even drunk, Bickslow wasn't that stupid.

"Nothing, Lissy," he told her.

"Bickslow-"

But she stopped then as suddenly, he fell backwards. The enchantment had worn off. They were free to go.

And wasn't that quite the save for Bickslow. He would have thanked Freed, had he not just as quickly realized it was him who put him in that position to begin with.

Regardless, Lisanna was on a mission then, headed for her brother's girlfriend's apartment in quite the haste. She even seemed to forget all about their previous conversation…for the moment. Bickslow had a sinking feeling that it'd be popping up once more eventually.

"Do you think," he began as they headed down the empty streets, "that one of us should spend the time looking for something to give Laxus? Instead of-"

'It's just another trap, Bickslow. We could give him the moon and he still wouldn't give them back. He thinks this is a game, that this is funny. He-"

"No way. Laxus is a man of his word. He-"

"He took your babies, Bickslow. I know you love him, but come on. See this for what it is," she said. "Laxus is a jerk when he's sober and he's mean when he's drunk. The only reprieve is when we're all in imminent danger or when my sister's in the vicinity. So stop worshiping him, please. Just for the night."

When they got to Evergreen's place, neither was quite sure about knocking at the door. They knew Ever. She was not a morning person…or an afternoon person…or an evening person.

Basically, she wasn't a person at all. She was a horribly mean woman that would just as quickly turn either one of them to stone as she would get her nails done.

"Well," Lisanna said slowly as she raised her hand to knock. "Maybe she'll be expecting us."

"Something tells me it wouldn't matter either way."

But, much to their surprise and Lisanna's enjoyment, when the door opened, it was to reveal her older brother, only in a pair of boxers and yawning. At the sight of his sister though, he perked right back up.

"Lisanna!" He tossed his arms around her before pulling her into the house. "Something wrong? Did you miss me? Need me? Is it Mira? Or you want me to beat your boyfriend here into a man?"

Bickslow only stood there, outside the door, craning his neck to see into the apartment. "Ever around?"

"She's in bed," Elfman said as he continued to hug Lisanna, lifting her off the ground in his enthusiasm. After all, they'd only seen each other _that afternoon_. Ugh.

"Elf, put me down. We need to speak with Ever."

"I dunno, Lisanna," he said, dropping her inside the apartment before moving to close the door on Bickslow. He quickly rushed in, as not to be left out. "She's real mean when you wake her up. I mean-"

"Did you go to the party tonight?"

"What party?"

Lisanna only gave him a look as Bickslow took to searching around the living room. "She went to a party. With Laxus. And a bunch of other people."

"What? She told me she was-"

"I know. Bickslow told me that too."

He frowned. "But why are you-"

"Because she took one of our babies," Lisanna said before heading off, passed the living room, and over to the bedroom. "And she better give them back! Now! Evergreen!"

"Lisanna," both Bickslow and Elfman warned, rushing over to grab her. "You-"

"No." She opened the bedroom door with a bang. "You took my babies, Evergreen and you have-"

"Don't turn my sister to stone!" Elfman ran to pick her up and drag her away before his girlfriend, who was laying in bed, only sat up some in shock. Then she frowned as Bickslow went to turn on the light in the room.

"Ew, Ever, you sleep in that?"

She pulled the covers over the litte lace number she was sporting.

"Get out! What are you guys-"

"You took my babies, Ever," Lisanna yelled as Elfman held her in his arms, trying to keep her from making a horrible mistake. "And you're going to give them back,"

"I-"

"Did you take their toys, Evergreen?" she heard Elfman call from the living room. "Please give them back. They-"

"They're not toys," Lisanna hissed. "Elfman, did you know?"

"I don't even know what's going on," he told her. "I mean-"

"I don't have your stupid dolls, Bickslow," Evergreen said as he took to looking around the bedroom.

"Yes, you do. Freed said-"

"They were too annoying. I gave them away."

"Gave them away?"

She only shrugged slightly, still holding the covers over herself. "They were annoying."

"Which ones?"

"Pippi and Puppu," she told him. "They kept flying around and wouldn't stay. I pawned them off on someone."

"Who?"

"I don't-"

"Who?" she heard Lisanna growl from the other room.

"Erza. We were headed the same way and she was so drunk that it was easy to convince her to take them," she said.

"Even Erza got to go to Laxus party?" Lisanna complained as slowly, her brother dropped her to the ground.

"Do you want me to go with you?" he asked. "To get them back?"

"No, Elfman. I want you to squish your stupid girlfriend's head in your hands until she dies."

"Lisanna-"

"Why don't you come say that to my face, hmmm?" Ever retorted from the bedroom as Bickslow headed out, feeling even more defeated.

"Why don't you come out of the covers and I can?"

"You little-"

"Alright," Elfman said, going to grab Lisanna's arm and pull her to the door. "Time to go. Bickslow, take her. Please. Before they-"

"I'm never getting my babies back," he grumbled as he walked over and opened the door before snatching Lisanna's hand and tugging her out. That was just in time too, as Ever came running out of her room, not caring about how scanty her nightwear was. Elfman rushed to hold her back as Lisanna only stuck her tongue out before closing the door behind them.

Then it hit her too that they were back to square one.

"Now where?" he asked. "Erza or Gajeel?"

"Does matter?" she groaned, dragging her feet as they headed back out of the apartment building. "Today's the worst night ever."

"You can say that again."


	3. Chapter 3

Quests and Drunks

Chapter 3

"I don't think I've ever been to Erza's home," Bickslow said softly as they walked down the street. "I always think of her as still living in the dormitory."

"Yeah, I've only been over a few times," Lisanna sighed. "I can't believe that she'd take our babies though."

"Me neither."

"She must be real drunk," Lisanna said. "Then again, given that it's Erza, that's not a hard thing for her to become."

"Too bad none of your friends were at the party."

"Who?"

"Natsu and Lucy. They'd have helped me get my babies back."

"Something tells me that Laxus would invite the enemy over for drinks before he invited Natsu," Lisanna said slowly.

Bickslow only nodded. "You have a very good point, Lissy."

They arrived at Erza's in record time. Then again, they'd chosen to go there first as it was the closest, so that was no surprise. All the lights were off in the tiny home though, making Lisanna hesitant to knock on the door. With Ever and Laxus, she'd seen them as the enemy. Erza though was everyone's friend. Everyone's.

Still, they'd come that far, so she only raised wrapped her knuckles against the door, hesitantly. Bickslow though didn't fear Erza at all and took to ringing the doorbell.

"Bickslow-"

"She took our babies, just the same as Ever and Laxus," he told her simply, holding his finger against his button so the tone never stopped.

"Yes?" was what they heard as the door opened, the darkness revealing a very overwhelmed looking Jellal Fernandez, shirtless with his blue locks fluffed up every which way. "What is it?"

They both blinked, staring at him. When he saw who it was, he frowned.

"Uh, I didn't know you were here, Jellal," Lisanna said slowly. "In town."

"Didn't see you at the party," Bickslow added.

"Party?" he repeated, glancing between them with a frown. Then he nodded his head. "Oh, yes. That thing that Erza came home from."

"You-"

"I was waiting for her, here. I only got into town a few hours ago," he said. "Then she arrived, intoxicated and, well… I am sure that you two do not care to hear about that. Was there something-"

"Erza took our babies," Bickslow said, puffing out his chest.

"Babies?" He raised an eyebrow, looking to Lisanna. "I thought you were Mirajane's little sister? I didn't know that you had any children. But I assure you that Erza is not babysitting, so perhaps-"

"Jellal! Who's-a at the door-a?" they heard from behind him. Then, suddenly, Erza appeared seemingly out of nowhere, about falling onto him as she came to peek out the door.

"Erza, I said to wait in the bedroom. I-"

"Lisanna!" Erza pushed away from him, almost falling back in the process. Not wanting that, Jellal quickly wrapped an arm around her, blushing slightly.

"You really shouldn't-"

"Is Mira here?" Erza reached out then, poking Lisanna in the nose as she only stared at her in shock. Bickslow was frowning though.

"No," he said. "We're here for our babies. You-"

"Mmmm. Babies."

"Uh," Lisanna said slowly, glancing at Jellal before the redhead that was slumped against him. "You know, Erza. The little dolls that Bickslow has? The-"

"Those are yours?" Jellal spoke up once more, glancing out at them. "Oh, no. She came home with those and I knew that someone would be missing them."

"Then they're here?" Bickslow about started jumping up and down. "Pippi! Puppu! Mama and Papa are here! Come on-"

"No," Jellal said as Erza reached out to pat Lisanna on the head again. "I gave them to the person that helped Erza home to take."

"Huh?" Lisanna frowned. "We were just with Evergreen. But-"

"She said her and Erza walked part of the way together," Bickslow groaned, kicking at the ground in frustration then. "Maybe there was someone else with them."

"It was the other drunk," Jellal said with a shake of his head. "The meagerly dressed one? Erza was cradling them and giggling, but I took them and gave them to her. Told her to get them back where they belong."

"You gave them to Cana?" Lisanna groaned.

"I am sorry," Jellal said, bowing his head. "I did not know who they belonged to. They-"

"Us, man!" Bickslow was getting frustrated. "How hard is that to remember? Huh?"

"I have told you that I do not possess them," Jellal told him simply before looking to Lisanna. "I truly am sorry. Perhaps she brought them to your house? I do not know. But please. Erza is quite drunk. It is only a matter of time before she passes out. I-"

"Not drunk-a," she told him, taking to poking at his cheek then. "Jellal-a."

"Come on, Bickslow," Lisanna sighed, reaching out to grab his arm before he tried to possess Jellal or something. The last thing they needed at the moment was to pick a fight with an innocent party. "Thanks, Jellal."

"If I see them from this point forth, I will be sure to return them to one of you," he assured them before closing the door.

"I fucking hate that guy," Bickslow growled as Lisanna drug him away. "I hate them all! They're playing with us, Lisanna. They-"

"Shut up, Bickslow," she groaned, throwing his hand from hers when they made it to the street. "Look, if Cana has them, they're safe."

"Unless she's drunk. Then who knows what she's done with them."

"They can't leave their bodies, remember? So wherever they are, they're intact. And her place is further off from here," she said with a shake of her head. "Gajeel and Lily though live right up the road. Let's go there and see who they have, huh? Hopefully not Pappa. You know he can't be away from us and the others. He'd have a meltdown. Hopefully Poppo or Peppe are with him."

He only growled. "They shouldn't have separated them. They need each other."

"I know," she sighed, glancing over at him. "Let's just hope that Gajeel kept whichever baby he has, huh?"

When they arrived at Gajeel's rundown little home, they were at an even more awkward place. They feared Ever's outbursts and questioned Erza's motives, but Gajeel…

"I'll knock this time, Lissy," he said, as they made it up to the door.

"Like I need you to protect me," she said with an eye roll though she did move to stand behind him, just in case.

Bickslow put on his bravest face before reaching up to knock on the door.

"No doorbell?"

"Shut up, Lisanna."

It took some knocking, but eventually they got someone to the door. It was Levy, who seemed equally surprised to see them.

"Um, hey guys," she said, wrapping her arms self-consciously around herself. She was only wearing a very over-sized t-shirt and clearly didn't wish to be seen at the moment. "What's up? Did you-"

"Where's Gajeel?" Bickslow didn't care for her and only pushed his way into the house.

"Hey!"

"Bickslow," Lisanna groaned, following her boyfriend in.

"You guys do get that it's, like, the middle of the night, right?' Levy complained. "I mean-"

"Your boyfriend stole our babies," Bickslow said. "And-"

"He what?"

They turned as someone else came into the dark living room. It was Pantherlily, of course, in his oversized form. He was clearly ready to the defend the house from intruders. When he saw that it was just unwelcome guests though, he poofed back into his normal form before walking over.

"Yeah, guys, I don't know anything about this," Levy yawned, going to turn on the overhead light. Lily only came to stand at her side, complaining slightly when she reached down to pick him up.

"I mean," she went on, snuggling Lily close, even rubbing at his ears to get him to stop fighting her hold. "He did go to a party tonight, but he came back super wasted and-"

"Levy," they heard a growl then from the dark hallway. "Who is it? Because-"

"Gajeel, come here for a minute," Levy told him through a yawn. To the other two in the room, she said, "He gets kinda…rowdy when he gets drunk."

Lisanna preemptively reached out to grab Bickslow's arm as he tensed up. Finally, someone he could fight. Not that she was going to let him though. Levy and Lisanna might not like one another's boyfriends, but the two of them were close friends. The last thing they needed to do was be torn apart by some sort of rivalry.

"What, shrimp?" he grumbled as he strode in there, only wearing his pants from earlier in the day. At the sight of their guests, he took to crossing his arms. "What do you idiots-"

"You have my babies!" Bickslow tried to lung at him, but Lisanna wouldn't let him.

"Gajeel, do you have their dolls?" Levy asked. "Because if you do, just say so. Lily and I were getting up early tomorrow. They're opening that new library a few towns over and-"

"Do I look like I have their stupid-"

"Gajeel."

Growling once more, he looked off and said, "Laxus might have given me one, yeah."

"Where-"

"But I ain't got it no longer," he told Lisanna.

"What?"

"I ran into the Salamander and his idiot girlfriend on the way home," he grumbled. "They were coming back from a job or something. When they saw me, they herd the stupid doll crying for me to let him go. They attacked-"

"You took one of their babies?" Levy stalked over to him and, shifting Lily to one arm, slugged the slayer in the arm. Lily had to hold down a snicker as Gajeel's eyes flared. "You big idiot! What were you thinking? Huh? Their dolls are like Lily. Would you like it if someone stole him?"

"I am in very high demand."

"Be quiet, cat," Gajeel ordered. "And Lily can defend himself. Those stupid toys-"

"They're not toys!" Lisanna was about ready to hit him too. In fact, she was about to change into one of her animal souls just to do that when, suddenly, it was Bickslow who was grabbing her arm.

"Did you hear what he said?" he asked. "He said that Lucy and Natsu have the baby."

"The annoying blue cat too," Gajeel said. "They- Levy, knock it off!"

She hit him again. "Go to bed. Now!"

"This is my house, woman. I'm just letting you stay the night. You don't boss me around! I-"

"Gajeel," she warned.

"I would listen to her," Lily said as he wiggled in Levy's arms. "And not just because if you don't she might choke me to death, though that is a very real factor here, Gajeel."

"Fine! But next time I see one of those things, I'm smashing it to bits!"

"I'm real sorry, guys," Levy told them as he headed off. "Seriously. I didn't know that he took one of them. If I did, I would have gotten it back to you immediately."

"I as well," Lily agreed, glad that Levy wasn't squeezing him any longer. "And if you require our assistance in locating the doll, I would gladly offer it to you. But Levy was quite excited about going out in the morning to see this new library-"

"If you need us to help you find your baby-"

"No," Lisanna told her, smiling slightly. "Besides, I'm sure Lucy and Natsu have him. Then Cana's supposed to have two of them. And…and someone else has two more."

"Someone?"

"We don't-"

"Gajeel!" Levy yelled then.

"What now, shrimp? You already-"

"Who else got the babies?"

"I don't-"

"Tell me. Now."

"Ever got two of 'em, I got one, and then Gray took the other two."

Bickslow frowned then, looking at Lisanna. "I thought he was one of your friends?"

"H-He is. I thought. But-"

"Great." He turned to stomp out of the house. "What kind of shit is this?"

Lisanna only quickly bid farewell to Levy and Lily, apologizing for bothering them, before heading after her boyfriend.

"Bickslow-"

"No. No! I'm done playing games. Even freaking Gray took them from us? I'm gonna kill him. I am. I'm going to kill all of them. It's not fun anymore, Lisanna. It was never fun. They think it's funny to-"

"Look," she said, rushing to go take his hand and lead him away. "Let's just go to Cana's, huh? And get the two from her? Then we'll go see Lucy and Natsu. I know that they kept whoever they have safe. And Gray… I bet he just took them to keep someone else from doing it."

"I dunno. I-"

"It'll be fine. They're with good people now," she assured him. "Safe people."

"I just-"

"I know." She slipped her hand into his before dragging him along. "But getting upset isn't helping anything. Come on! Let's go to Cana's. From there, it'll be a piece of cake. I just know it."

He only wished that he was as confident about it all as her. Because at that point, he was really doubting everything.

…Except for the fact that he was still very drunk. That much was true. For sure.


	4. Chapter 4

Quests and Drunks

Chapter 4

"You two look like you wanna drink," was the first thing Cana said when she opened the door of her apartment. "Eh? Eh? Come on in."

"What? No." Lisanna frowned at her as she only leaned heavily against the door, staring out at them. "We're here for our babies."

"Babies, huh?" She stretched one arm over her head, yawning slightly. "I don't have any of those guys, I'm- Oh, hey, you mean your little dollies, huh?"

Bickslow blinked. Already having had enough that day, he merely said, "Yes. I mean my _dollies_."

Cana nodded slightly. "I had those."

"You do?" Lisanna grinned. "Where-"

"Had," Bickslow repeated. "She said had. Because everyone tonight has had them. They-"

"I got 'em from Erza's boyfriend," Cana said.

"Right," Lisanna said slowly, staring hard at her. "And what did you do with them?"

"I took 'em back to Mirajane," she said with a shrug. "I don't even want human babies. The bar was just closing and-"

"Mira has them!" Lisanna literally threw her arms around Bickslow. "Mira has Pippi and Puppu, Bickslow! And Natsu and Lucy have one, then Gray has the last two. We win!"

"I wouldn't say that we win, Lisanna, until we have all five, back in our hands," he sighed before looking to Cana. "Thanks."

"Sure you guys don't want a drink?" She grinned at them. "I hate drinking alone."

"Weren't you just at Laxus' party all night?"

Her smile turned to a frown as she narrowed her eyes at Lisanna. "Your point?"

"Uh…nothing. Never mind." She forced a smile though it wasn't hard considering she finally, _finally_ knew where all the babies were. "Thanks, Cana."

"So now where? Your sister's?" Bickslow asked as they started out once more. The clouds had parted some and they could see the moon, but the frigid air hadn't let up any. "Or-"

"I know that they're fine with her. She'll probably try to take them to our place. She has a key," Lisanna reasoned. "Either that or keep them."

"Then-"

"I love Natsu and Lucy, but-"

"Right. We should go to them first," Bickslow said, nodding his head. "Before they screw something up."

But it was too late for that. Because in the end, they ran into Lucy and Natsu out on the street, Happy flying over head.

For a moment, Lisanna didn't notice that they were calling for someone as they walked. Instead, she just rushed right to them, throwing her arms around Lucy the second she saw her.

"L-Lisanna."

"Sorry," she giggled as Lucy had to find her footing to keep from toppling over. She just moved on to hugging Natsu, who glanced at Lucy. She only bowed her head.

"I take it that you heard we had one of your-"

"Where is he?" Lisanna asked. "And who do you have?"

"W-Well," Lucy stuttered, glancing at Natsu, but he was calling Happy back down to land. "We're not sure, but-"

"Where is he?" Bickslow asked then. "Did you guys take him to Mirajane too?"

"Not exactly," the blonde mage said as she scratched at the back of her head. "We kinda-"

"Lucy wouldn't let us hold him," Happy accused as he came to rest on the ground. Lisanna only reached down to pat him on the head.

"Yeah," Natsu said, nodding his head. "She insisted that she carry him."

"Well, I was less likely to drop him," she argued, frowning over at him.

"Yeah, but then you had to go and-"

"What," Bickslow began, growing agitated, "happened?"

"Guys?" Lisanna asked, staring at them as the two mages just glared at one another. It was Happy though, staring up at them with his bright eyes, that took to kicking at the ground before speaking.

"We sorta…well…" He sighed. "Lucy lost him!"

"I did not!"

"You didn't lose the baby?" Bickslow asked. "Or-"

"N-No. I did," she said. "Err, well, _we _did, but-"

"This is no time for schematics!" Bickslow yelled at her.

"I think you mean semantics," Lisanna said softly as Lucy shut her eyes tightly, as if fearful Bickslow would try to possess her. "What do you mean you lost him though?"

"We were trying to take him home because we didn't know where you guys were that you didn't have him," Lucy said. "But he was flipping out. He had been with Gajeel, after all. And then the doll just…got away from me and ran off. I'm sorry. We tried to chase him, but… And he doesn't rightly have a scent."

"I tried, Lisanna," Natsu told her, his face falling some as he looked at her. "How'd you guys lose it anyhow?"

"Bickslow lost them all," she said, finding her anger in him instead of her friends. The night was starting to wear on her and, frustrated to the fullest finally, she turned to hit him in the arm.

"Hey!" He rubbed at where she'd hit, turning to glare at her. "Don't get mad at me. Get mad at your ditzy friend."

"I'm not ditzy," Lucy insisted as Happy only snickered.

"It's not funny, Happy," Lisanna told him. "Seriously."

"I know, I was only-"

"We'll keep looking for them," Lucy said, staring Lisanna in the eyes then. "I mean, he has to-"

"He probably tried to get back home," Bickslow said. "'cept none of 'em are too good directionally. But they usually are able to find one another, if they break away. So he'd have either gone to Gray's place or Mirajane's."

"Gray, huh? He the thief? I bet he is," Natsu said, nodding his head. "That's how come he wouldn't come on our job with us, isn't it? That evil-"

"We're not in the mood, Natsu," Lisanna said before turning to walk away. "Come on. My house is closest. Let's see if Mirajane's home and has them. Then we can go from there."

"We'll go too," Natsu said, trying to fall into step with her.

"No, don't."

"But-"

"Natsu," Lucy said, going to grab his hand, stopping him. Bickslow rushed to keep pace with his girlfriend. "We'll keep looking out here, huh, Lisanna? And if we find him, we'll bring him straight to your apartment this time. Promise."

"Don't know what their problem is," Natsu grumbled after it was just the three of them once more. "We said sorry, didn't we?"

"And we are real sorry," Happy agreed as he took to the air once more. "We'll keep searching too, huh?"

"Just a dumb doll."

"They're not just dolls to them, Natsu," Lucy told him. "They're…their babies or whatever. Like if you lost Happy."

"Not alike at all," Happy told her. "Because he can't lose me. I don't belong to him."

"Happy's a strong independent cat, Luce."

She only rolled her eyes before setting off in the opposite direction of Lisanna and Bickslow. "Let's just get back to looking, huh?"

"Aye, sir!" Happy flew off then and Natsu took off running. They'd find Lisanna her toy if it was that important. They'd find them all!

"So we go to your sister's and then-"

"I don't know, Bickslow," Lisanna told him as she took to crossing her arms. "Alright?"

"Lisanna-"

"I can't believe you gambled them to begin with. You're a horrible father."

"Oh, I'm a horrible father now?"

"You have been this whole time."

"Why are you suddenly so against me here, huh? I thought it was me and you against-"

"_You gambled our babies_, Bickslow," she hissed at him, throwing a glare out as well. "And now one of them is lost. Not with a guild member, but lost. You know how panicky they get. And if it's Pappa-"

"Stop thinking of the worst things, Lisanna. I'm sure that it was Poppo. He's the best at finding the others. And he's the toughest. So-"

"So what? He still wouldn't have to be looking for the others if it wasn't for-"

"They're my souls, Lisanna," he growled at her then. "Not yours. You're not anything to them! So stop fucking yelling at me and-"

"Go then!" She stopped walking, turning to literally shove him. "Go find them your damn self, Bickslow, and leave me alone."

"Lisanna-"

"No. You're not allowed to walk with me."

"You-"

"Go!" She shoved him again. "Go… Go home and wait for them. Or for me. Whatever. I don't want you around anymore. All you've done is slow me down. I probably-"

"I've slowed you down?" He snorted. "You constantly slow me down, kid. And you wouldn't even know that they were missing if it wasn't for me!"

"Missing? Don't you mean _traded_?"

"I thought I was going to win, Lisanna!"

"And win what, huh? What would have been so important to win that you would have-"

"Jewels, alright? He was going-"

"Money? You wagered them for-"

"I need it, alright?"

"For what?"

"Well for one, I was going to buy you that damn ring that you fucking asked for. That one that I can't fucking afford otherwise," he growled. "But now you can just forget it! You can get a fucking plastic one for all I care!"

She blinked. Then she turned her back to him. "I don't wanna marry you right now anyways."

"Whatever." He started walking again. "Come on. Let's get Pippi and Puppu. They're probably worried."

It was silent the rest of the way. Lisanna started to feel bad at one point, but Bickslow was just as drunk and stubborn as ever. And honestly, they both wanted to get the babies back more than they cared about making up in that moment,.

When they got to the Strauss house, Lisanna used her old key to get in. The past year or so, Mira mostly just stayed there alone other than when Laxus spent the night, as Lisanna had officially moved in with her boyfriend and Elf spent almost all his time at Ever's, enough so to qualify as moved in.

"Mirajane?" she called out as she entered. "Are you-"

"Lisanna!"

And then she was literally hit in the face by a quick moving object.

"Ow! Damn it, Pippi!"

He only flew back to do it again. Bickslow made him stop though.

"You could have hurt her," he scolded out of habit. Pippi had quite the problem with flying at high speeds into things. Especially when he was excited.

"Lisanna!"

Puppu didn't run into her, but stopped just short of it.

"I think he gave me a black eye," she complained as she came further into the house. Quickly though, she reached out to grab both of the dolls and hold them. "Are you guys okay though?"

"Mira," they sang as she appeared in the entranceway, coming in from the kitchen. "Mirajane."

"Where have you guys been?" Mirajane was in full punishment mode at that point and only glared at them, finger ready to be wagged. "I've looked everywhere! For the other babies too. Cana said something about Erza and Jellal giving them to her, but wouldn't say where Erza got them. She did say that the others were gone. So I went to your place, but were you there? No. You-"

It was an accumulation of things, really. She was tired, Bickslow'd just botched any sort of surprise proposal, honestly she wasn't even sure if he'd ask again, three of the babies were still missing, and, on top of everything, Pippi had just freaking _slammed into her face hard enough to shatter glass. _Both the dolls and Bickslow stayed very still as Lisanna teared up. Mirajane though, used to this, only went to hug her.

"What happened?" she asked softly as Lisanna only held onto her.

"I tried to fix it all on my own, Mira, but-"

"What happ-"

"Laxus," she told her as she sniffled. "He trick Bickslow into betting on a darts game with the babies back at his apartment. Then he passed them out to everyone when they went home!"

"Everyone?"

"We kinda, sorta, mighta had a party," Bickslow told her as he kicked at the ground. Even he felt like he was being mothered at the moment by the she-demon. "Since you wouldn't let him drink or whatever. And when I lost the bet, he wouldn't give them back. He said that I had to give him something better in order to get them back, but when I brought Lissy back there, he'd given them away. And-"

"And we think that Gray has the others," she sniffled. "But-"

"No, he doesn't," she said. "I have them too."

"How-"

"I was coming back from trying to take them to your place when the other two came flying at us," she said. "Maybe they got away from Gray? I don't-"

"Only two?" she whispered.

She nodded. "But when we got back home, Pippi was so excited, he kinda ran into them and broke their bodies. He keeps smashing things. I think their spirits are trapped in your old bedroom, Lisanna. Or at least I hope. I shut the door. I don't really know how any of this works."

Bickslow walked around them then. Freed might have sealed them, but if their bodies broke, that would shatter the enchantment. Only he could see them then.

When he returned to them, it was with a floating shoe and an old stuffed animal.

"Had to improvise," he told them with a shrug.

"Who-"

"It's Poppo," he said. "And-"

"Peppe," Mirajane finished. "Where-"

"Natsu and Lucy lost him," Lisanna finished before sniffling some more. "Mira, now we'll never find him! He always get so scared of things. And if he shatters out there without Bickslow to see, then-"

"We'll find him, Lissy," Bickslow said. "I-"

"But what if-"

"Hey." Mirajane looked down at her then, grinning slightly. "Pappa's going to be fine. Bickslow and the other dolls are going to go look for him. Aren't you, Bickslow?"

"Of course," he said, nodding his head. "And-"

"And I'm going to go take care of something else, huh? If I see him on the way, I'll catch him." She kissed Lisanna's head before letting her go. "You know that children love their aunt."

Then Lisanna smiled a little bit. "Thanks, Mira."

She only nodded before rushing off to get her coat as they set off to find their last baby.

Mira had somewhere much more important to go, however.

They were out looking for only twenty minutes when they ran into Natsu and Lucy, excitement evident on both their faces. It was Happy though, dropping down from the sky to land on her head that made Lisanna the happiest.

"You found Pappa," she giggled as he spit the doll from his mouth. Pappa didn't like this at first and started to complain until he seemed to realize that all the other dolls were with him. Not to mention Papa and Mama!

"You know we always take care of you, Lisanna," Natsu assured her as Happy only nodded.

"I never thought it was funny," he said as Lisanna only hugged him as Pappa flew around with his other dolls before taking to slamming against Bickslow's chest.

They were all giggling then, even him, as he hugged his babies and Lisanna threw her arms around her friends in thanks.

Their quest was finally complete. But Mira's was only starting.

* * *

><p>It was so dark in his bedroom that when Laxus first opened his eyes, he didn't even notice her. It was her scent, really that tipped him off. Then, suddenly, he found himself shooting up in bed.<p>

"Damn it, demon," he growled at the woman who was standing at the side of it, glaring at him. "You scared the shit out of-"

"You wanted a trade, Laxus?" She stared into his eyes, somehow finding them regardless of the darkness. "How about this one. They already got their babies back, but I have a better idea."

"B-Babies?"

"Mmmhmm. I know all about your little party. And for the record, you and your stupid little bodyguards can play whatever kind of games they want, but when my sister comes home crying because you were mean to her, things stop being funny."

"M-Mira, it was only a joke. I was going to give them back. I-"

But then he wasn't speaking to Mirajane any longer as she took on the form of Satan Soul far better than she had after losing her sister all those years ago.

"If you thought me banning you from drinking was bad, Laxus," she began as he only sat there in bed, trying hard not to gulp, "you're about to be in for the shock of your life."

He shut his eyes tightly, hoping that maybe, just maybe, it was all a bad dream. But nope. It wasn't. His girlfriend was standing there, pissed, and about to slaughter him.

"At least make it quick," he whispered before she suddenly pounced him, pinning him to the bed. Laxus only turned his head as she leaned over him, at first pinning his hands down with her demon claws, but then releasing one.

"No," she told him as she took to shaking one of her fingers in his face. Laxus only groaned. "No."

"This is so demeaning."

"Bad dragon."

"Mirajane-"

"You don't take things. Especially not children."

"I'm sorry."

"You better be. And tomorrow, you're going to march your butt into the guildhall and say that to both Lisanna and Bickslow. Then you're going to sit there and not drink as you watch everyone else have a good time without you. Because you were very bad, Laxus Dreyar." She grabbed his jaw with her claw, forcing him to face her. "Open your eyes."

"Mira-"

"Open."

When he did, she only stared at him. "Are you really sorry?"

"Yes. Very. I'll never do it again."

She only sat back some then, staring down at him. "Good. And no spending the night with one another for at least a week."

"What? Mira-"

She only climbed back off him, transforming once more to her normal form. "I'm sorry, Laxus, but you have to be punished."

"This isn't fair!"

He got a look for that. "Do you need another finger wag?"

"No," he groaned, rolling onto his side, giving her his back.

"Good. Now go to sleep. I have to go see if Lisanna got all her babies back."

Grunt. It wasn't until about twenty minutes after she left, when he realized that he couldn't sleep and went to get his Sound Pod to soothe him off that he realized something.

"Demon!" he yelled even though he knew she was long gone. "You are not allowed to take my things!"

Oh, but she was. And, as she made her way back home, his headphones in hand, she knew that she'd be keeping them for a long time.

* * *

><p><strong>Next one's the last one. It's kinda just a follow up chapter. I mean, they obviously already got all the babies back. And sorry for anyone that's been waiting for the last chapter of Hospitality. I honestly haven't even started it yet (oops), but I will soon. Promise. <strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Quests and Drunks

Chapter 5

Bickslow sat up at the bar in the guildhall with his back to it, elbows read atop it as he stared out at the guildhall. His babies were less concerned with him though, as for some reason they got this crazy idea that the previous night was his fault, and instead continued to circle around his girlfriend.

Pappa, in particular, hadn't left her side since they got home that night. Which wasn't completely unusual, but he wouldn't even let her go into the bathroom to shower that morning without whining. He seemed to think that if he let her get out of sight, he'd lose her again.

"Hey, you guys," Gray said, coming over the second he made it to the guild. "I spent all last night looking for you. I had two of your little dolls, but-"

"We got 'em back," Bickslow said, nodding at the dolls. "Thanks."

"I tried to get more, but Gajeel and Evergreen-"

"Thank you, Gray." Lisanna turned to hug him. "I-"

"I never knew you could be a love rival!"

Lisanna let him go quickly as, literally out of nowhere, Juvia appeared, glaring at the other woman. Bickslow only tossed an arm around Lisanna, sticking his tongue out.

"Taken," he told her simply as Gray used the distraction to make his escape. No such luck, as Juvia only told Lisanna that she'd begin watching her more closely before chasing after her.

"Am I?" Lisanna glanced at her boyfriend.

"Course, Lissy." He even licked her cheek, just to get her to shriek and shove him away. "But after how mean you were to me last night, don't be expecting no proposal."

"What? Bickslow-"

"No. You were real mean when I was worried about my babies."

"I was stressed, okay?"

"And I wasn't?"

She only stared at him. "Not to mention, I still stand by what I said. You never bet our babies for anything. _Anything_."

"And now I know that," he grumbled as the dolls only all came down to land, some resting in Lisanna's lap, the others on her head.

It was then though that the guildhall doors opened, much to the annoyance of Erza.

"How much sunlight is there out there anyhow?" she groaned, resting her head against the table. Jellal, who was seated next to her, only shook his head in disapproval.

"This is your punishment," he said simply. "For drinking so much last night. You know better than that."

She wasn't the only one being punished as it was Mirajane that walked into the guildhall, dragging her boyfriend along by his ear.

No, literally.

Everyone had to stop what they were doing and look at that. Natsu, who was over at the request board with Lucy and Happy, fell down in giggles as his girlfriend only rolled her eyes.

"We need to pick a new job," she told him. "That last one hardly paid anything! I don't know why you took it."

"I know, Luce, I'm sorry, but this is just too funny," he snickered as Happy pointed and laughed as well.

"Mirajane," Laxus complained, hunched over as she drug him along. "Is this really necessary?"

SHe only led him over to where Lisanna and Bickslow were seated before letting go of his ear.

"Apologize."

He glared at both of them before grunting out, "Sorry."

"Nope," Mirajane said. "Not good enough. If you don't mean it-"

"I'm sorry, alright?" he grumbled, looking Lisanna in the eyes. "I was drunk and acting stupid. The second you came over, I should have gone nad gotten them back for you. I'm real sorry, Lisanna."

"Thank you," she said softly to which her sister nodded.

"And?" Mirajane prompted.

"And sorry Bickslow," he went on.

"And?"

"Mira-"

"Do it."

"Sorry…dolls."

"Their names."

"Mirajane-"

"Do it, Laxus."

Huffing slightly, he said, "Sorry Poopy, Pappy, Potty, Pokey, Petey, and Polly."

Bickslow blinked. "Those aren't even close, man."

"And there's five of them, not six," Lisanna added.

It was good if enough for Mirajane who only reached up again, took him by the ear, and drug him over to a table.

"Sit."

"I'm not a dog! I-"

"_Sit_."

Grumbling slightly, he took a seat. "Happy?"

"Ye- No, Freed," she said as he came over to try and join him. "You, Ever, and Bickslow aren't allowed to sit with him today. And no one else either. He's grounded."

"What?" Freed stared at her with wide eyes. "You must be joking."

"She ain't," Laxus grumbled.

"But this is Laxus," Freed said. "Laxus! He's the-"

"Dude, you're not helping, alright?" Laxus hunched over in his chair. "Can't do shit anymore. I-"

"No cursing."

"Mirajane-"

"No cursing, Laxus."

With that, she turned back to Freed. "So run along. Go. You're going to have to find someone else to play with today."

"I get treated like a baby," Laxus grumbled. "Can I at least have a my headphones back?"

"No."

Freed's jaw dropped. "She took your-"

"Mira," Laxus protested. "This isn't-"

"Are you talking back?"

"No."

"Yes!" Freed was really about to have a meltdown. "Laxus, you're letting a woman do this to you? I do not understand. You-"

"Dude, just fuck off for awhile, alright?" he grumbled. It was no fun being fawned over when you were at your weakest point. Not even uplifting. After Freed bowed his head and walked off, Laxus asked, "Can I at least have a drink?"

"Mmmhmm." Mirajane turned to go over to the bar. Lisanna and Bickslow had quite a few words to say to her though.

"Wow, Mira, you really have him on a tight leash," Lisanna giggled. "You-"

"You really shouldn't be so mean to the boss man," Bickslow told her, his tongue falling from his mouth. "He didn't mean no harm. He 'as only tryin'-"

"I can punish you too, Bickslow," Mira warned to which Lisanna nodded.

"It's true," she told him softly. "So don't test her."

"Boy," he mumbled to his dolls. "Mira's a psycho."

"Psycho," they agreed from over by their Mama. "Psycho."

"You have my grandson reigned in," Makarov said from atop the bar. "In any event."

"Hi, Master," Mirajane giggled as she went to get him his drink. "And he was very bad last night. He deserves to be punished."

Makarov only sighed before going back to meditating.

"Okay, Laxus," Mira said a moment later as she made it back to him. "Yoru drink."

"The fuck is this?"

"No cur-"

"You brought me a glass of water. Mira, do I look like I need water right now? No. I need a beer. Or something stronger."

"No beer for you," she told him before pushing the mug of water closer. "Drink up. You probably got dehydrated last night from not-"

"I am _not drinking water,_" he growled. "I'm serious, Mirajane."

"Yes, you are. Either that or-"

"Then I'm done, Mira. I'm fucking done!" He tossed the water glass off the table before jumping up. "We're done. I'm not your stupid play thing! You can't treat me like this. You stupid little-"

And then she set off into a round of tears, covering her eyes with her hands. Just like that Laxus was on the ground, picking up the broken glass, apologizing profusely.

"I didn't mean it, Mira," he said as he continued to clean it up. "Honest. You know that."

"You hurt my feelings," she sobbed. "I was only-"

"I know, demon. I'm sorry. Dragon's sorry." He stared up at her, eyes wide. "Don't cry no more. Look! I'm cleaning it up and then you can go get me another glass of water and-"

"Please, Lucy?" Natsu begged as they walked by. "Can't we stay and watch? Laxus is being so funny today."

"Yeah," Happy agreed.

"No," she said. "You're going to end up getting pummeled if you keep teasing him. And I can't take a pummeled Natsu out on a job, can I?"

"I don't know, Laxus," Mira was saying to him, her lip wavering. "You hurt my feelings super bad. I just-"

"Hey, I'll go and get you some stuff, huh?" He jumped up again. "Let me clean this up and then I'll go get you some gifts. Some sorry gifts. Okay? Will that make it better?"

She sniffled. "We'll see."

Then she turned and walked over to the bar, her tears magically all gone and a devilish little smile playing at her lips.

"Mira," Lisanna giggled, turning to face the bar once more. "That was so bad!"

"I know," she sighed, going to take her post at work once more. "It's almost too easy at this point. A few tears and he's doing whatever I want."

"Whatever you want, huh?" Bickslow visualized himself crying next time Laxus was yelling about him being in the way or not being good enough. No matter how many scenarios he thought of, it didn't end the same as Mira's had.

"Yeah," the she-devil giggled. "Did you guys want him to bring you anything? Ask away."

"Yeah, can we have some-"

"No," Lisanna said, giving Bickslow a look. "We're fine. We-"

"Some chocolate would be nice," they heard then from Makarov as he sat on the bar. He didn't even glance over at them. "Really hit the spot."

"Master," Kinana giggled as she came over to refill some beers. "Honestly."

"Laxus," Mira called after he finished cleaning up the glass. She beckoned him over. "Come here."

"Yes, my demon that I am super sorry to and will never yell at again?" He stared hard at her. "What do you need?"

"Some chocolate. For when you go and get my gifts?"

"Chocolate. Yes. Right. Okay." He nodded before walking off. "I'll be back."

"Hurry."

He took off into a sprint. "Alright. Be back soon!"

"You're more than bad," Cana, who was the least hungover out of all the party goers, called over from where she was working on a barrel. "You're demented."

"He'll get over it," Mirajane sighed. "He is on punishment, after all."

Lisanna only took a look around. 'Has anyone see Elf? I wanted to tell him about how we found the babies, but he hasn't shown up."

"I'm sure he and Ever aren't showing their faces today," Bickslow told her. "She was pretty drunk last night. And you know she doesn't like to leave her place unless she looks her best."

"Must be hard being a hermit."

"You two are not allowed to fight," Mirajane told Lisanna.

"She took-"

"I don't care. You're just not. We're one big, happy family," her sister insisted. "Remember?"

"Yeah, a big, happy family that beats up on the drunk uncle," Bickslow remarked.

"Exactly," Mira said. 'Laxus was bad and as a family, we're punishing him. Well, mainly I am. But you guys are welcome to-"

"No, thanks," Lisanna said.

"Yeah, we like living," her boyfriend agreed.

"A lot."

"It's kind a fun."

"And we want to do it forever."

"And ever."

"Together."

"Always." The Bickslow elbowed her. "Right?"

"Right."

Mirajane only blinked. "Okay, well, that means nothing to me right now and I have to get back to work, huh?"

Bickslow was only staring at Lisanna though then, watching as she smiled at him.

"You could totally ask me now," she told him after a moment. "It'd be cute and-"

"Nah."

"Nah?" she repeated with a frown.

"I ain't feeling it."

"Not feeling it," the babies told her. "Lissy."

"But," she complained. "We just pledge our love for one another and-"

"I didn't say love." He looked at his dolls. "Babies, did you hear love?"

"No," they all said in chorus. "No love."

"Bickslow-"

"I mean, I do love you, kid," he told her. "But I didn't say that. So-"

"You're about to get it."

He only shrugged. "I can't ask you again, Lisanna, until I'm feeling it again. So you should probably start sucking up to me and stuff now."

"Now," the babies told her. "Now, Mama."

She only narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine. I'm not sucking up to you, but if you don't wanna ask, fine."

"Good-"

"But know this, Bickslow," she said. "Now that you've teased me with it, you had better get that ring that I showed you. That exact one."

"Nag, nag, nag." He shook his head. "You're lucky my babies need a mama."

"You're lucky that you got a woman that puts up with you."

He only grinned, tongue hanging out, as he tossed an arm over her shoulders.

"I really am."

It took Laxus about twenty minutes to return. And when he did, he had an arm full of stuff.

"Okay, Mirajane, I got you a couple of different boxes, since I know that you like to only pick a few out," he said, setting the chocolate boxes down on the bar in front of her. "And then I got you these flowers, because you're just as beautiful as them."

"But flowers wither."

"You're an everlasting flower."

She clapped, bouncing slightly as Cana made a gagging gesture to Lisanna to which she only nodded her head.

"Aw, Laxus." She took the bouquet from him. "You got my favorite. Orchids."

"Uh-huh." Then he kicked at the ground, holding out his last gifts. "And they didn't have any dragons, but I got us some new babies."

He sat two stuffed animals on the bar. Mirajane oohed then, inspecting.

"I thought that this one kinda looks like one of our other babies," he said, pointing to the blue beaver. "The platapus?"

"His name is Larry and he's our son, Laxus."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "So I was thinking that this one's name could be Lonnie or something. Since they're-"

"Twins! Yes. Ooh, you're so smart." She picked that one up. "You got a smart daddy, Lonnie."

"And this one, the stuffed dog, I thought that it could be a girl. And her name could be-"

"Melon! Because she's got this spot here, see?" Mirajane picked up the doll too. "It looks like a watermelon. So cute. Thank you, Laxus."

"Yeah, well, if now that we've got some more babies, we have to stay together, huh?"

"Mmmhmmm. Now take some of these chocolates over to your grandfather."

"Huh?"

"Just do it. I gotta put my flowers in water and get better introduced to my new babies."

"Bleh," Bickslow said, making a face at Lisanna. "How can they pretend those stupid stuffed animals are their babies?"

"I don't know," she said as Pappa took to the air, flying around her head to try and get her to give him some attention. "They have tons of them. They're in Mira's bedroom."

"It's just damn creepy."

Lisanna smiled as he leaned over to kiss her head. "Agreed."

"To each their own, I guess," he said finally, reaching out to snatch Pappa up and hug him close to his chest.

"I guess."

* * *

><p><strong>Finished now. And totally going to start on that chapter of Hospitality tonight. Promise. For real this time. <strong>


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